Friday, April 27, 2012

East Front Yard

In my last post of this area, things were just peeking up.  A lot has changed since then.


I trimmed back the Joe Pye weed next to the fence a little more than last year, so it may not get as tall.  I'll start at the corner, and go around the bed, showing what's up. 


The dwarf sage has pretty blooms.


I have been planting more and more daylilies in this bed.  Some, I moved here from other places this spring.  The phlox 'Orange Perfection' has been in that spot a number of years.  I just planted the lavender last year or the year before.


I need to thin out the irises.  The amsonia, I'm assuming, hubrichtii, is a bit crowded.


The reblooming iris, 'Immortality' has a good amount of blooms.


The phlox pilosa, 'Eco Happy Traveler' was just planted last year.  I am pleased with the blooms.  The two plants with the sunlight on them are surprise lilies, which will fade, and then later, send up bloom stalks.  There is a petite pink blooming monarda under them.


I forgot the name of the other reblooming irises I planted, but they are looking good, too.


I have been keeping the anemone, 'September Charm' in the space I have for it.  It would like to spread farther.  I have it in two clumps here.  It's almost time to trim back the mums.  I didn't get a close view of the pink blooming primrose that's on the right, but I am also keeping that from spreading too far.


I spent some time last week untangling the clematis stems and tying them to the trellises.


Heidi knows where we are going when she sees me picking up my camera.  We have made it to the front of the flower bed.


For some reason, I never have very many nigellas come up from seed.  This year, I just have one.  I planted more seeds in the area, but they aren't up yet.


The poppies will be opening soon.


The pine leaf penstemon next to the poppy plant will have orange/red blooms.  This has been in the bed for quite a long time, as this area was a circle before the bed was enlarged to its current size.  The helenium on the right has been there awhile, too.


Orange hawkweed is another plant that I need to keep from spreading too far.  The flowers were not open when I took the photo.


Turning the corner, this daylily is 'Wally'.  I saw it on a garden forum, and found a place to order it from a number of years ago.  It sure has grown!


The clump of yellow blooming foxglove is larger than I remember it getting in the past.  The hydrangea, 'pia' in front of it is smaller.  I forgot to include the Dakota vervain, the purple bloomer on the right, in my Wildflower Wednesday post.  It's what is currently in my blog background.  It sure is a spreader!  It was growing right next to the hydrangea and foxglove, until I took some out to give to friends.



I moved the agastache, 'golden jubilee' to this bed because it was going to get crowded in the other bed.  It doesn't seem to mind the move.


I was looking at a list of plants that can be invasive in some areas, and found red hot poker is somewhere, but not here.  There is a clump of it to the left of the bicycle.


The hellebores continue to look good, holding onto their flowers.  I am pleased this delphinium has survived several winters.  In the past, they only lived a season or two in my gardens.  I think that's a verbena bonariensis to the left of the delphinium.  I'm thinking they were on the list of possible invasive plants, too.  They sew themselves far and wide, but are easy to pull out.


Last year, the flowers looked good in the basket until it got hot, and they got dry.  I stuck some sedums and hen and chicks in it, and only watered it a few times to get them going.  I want to find a little big taller and cascading type of sedum to add to it.


This is the southeast corner of the flower bed.  I can't decide if I like all the drumstick alliiums.  They take up quite a bit of space, and don't bloom until after most things are already blooming.  There are coneflowers throughout the bed, too.


This rattlesnake master is in a spot that is moister than it needs, but it has done well.


We've turned the corner and are facing the street.


This is either a white or pink swamp milkweed.  There are a number of annuals coming up in the empty looking space.  I don't think that hellebore bloomed this year.
 

I love the cheerful irises!


The seedling on the left is kiss me over the garden gate.  The ones on the right are love lies bleeding.  They are going to be competing for space soon.


Do you have any experience thinning drumstick alliums?  I did give a clump to a co-worker.  I need to ask how its doing.  The Joe pye weed is doing well.


We are back where we started.  I have to tie Heidi up these days so she won't run off.  She doesn't mind.  She loves being outside.


I have been under the weather with a sinus infection, and my asthma has kicked in the last few days, so I have not had the energy to garden.  I did go out and take these photos yesterday, so I could have something to do inside that involved sitting.  I missed a plant sale today, and will most likely not go to one I like to go to tomorrow, but I will just be glad to stop coughing and feel better.  Please pardon my whining.  It has been windy and cool today, and we had a good hard rain this evening.  Plants will continue to grow and do their thing.  I hope all is well with you.
 

18 comments:

  1. Everything looks lovely and is filling in wonderfully! Those irises are very special. Thinning them out is a fairly big job, isn't it?

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  2. I hope you get better, so you can go to the plant sales.

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  3. Take care and hope you feel better soon.
    Everything is really growing. So much more going on there now.

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  4. Sorry you don't feel well--it's no time to be down. Things are sure coming up. I love the idea of sedums in the bike basket--very cute!

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  5. You have such an interesting and beautiful garden! I will come back for sure! You're already in my blog roll, I don't want to miss a thing! ^^

    Hope things will get better for you. Take care. 8)

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  6. Hope you are feeling much better soon so that you can be outside in your lovely gardens.

    I sure enjoy seeing your gardens in all seasons.

    Have a nice weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  7. Your garden looks wonderful already - so lush and full of foliage and blooms. Beautiful iris. And how sweet that Heidi likes to follow you around on your garden tours - what a great buddy she is!

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  8. Glad you (and Heidi) are out and about to give the tour. Your garden is really lush and lovely. Nigella is an agressive self-sowing plant here. Just let that one bloom and collect the mature seeds and you'll be up to your knees in Nigella forever!

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  9. Sue, your garden always looks so great. It has to be the show corner of the neighborhood. It's just not fair that when the gardener needs to be out in the garden allergies prevent them from going into the garden much. My grandson of seven has been having trouble with the spring allergies this year. Yeah, just try to keep a seven year old boy inside during the nice spring weather. So far we have kept it some what under control with medication. This year is a bad year because of the winter or as it was no winter weather.

    I hope you are feeling better real soon. It's not fun missing the favorite plant sales. Have the best day that you can.

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  10. Sue, Hope you feel better soon. Your garden looks great! The iris and the plants in the bike basket are my favorites from today's post.

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  11. Sue, I hope you are feeling much better. Your garden is so lovely. It must be a pleasure to work in it each day.

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  12. Sue, I can surely empathize with you about the coughing. Hopefully this pollen season will pass soon.

    Feel better soon.

    My few nigella plants self-seeded everywhere this year, even out into the grass. I see I have two blooms open this morning. You may be glad they haven't spread all over your beds.

    My Immortality is blooming now too.

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  13. It's amazing how things are filling in --you are about a month ahead of us here in northern Illinois. I have only one iris beginning to bloom, and most are several weeks away.

    I hope you feel better soon --this winter/early spring was bad for colds!

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  14. All of your photos are amazing! We have very few flowering plants around here to enjoy... I should really start planting some more to liven it up around here.

    Sorry to hear about your coughing. The pollen has been driving me up a wall. Short bursts outside have been all I could manage this past week!

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  15. Your irises are lovely and I really like the bicycle in the bed - such a nice touch. I hope you feel better soon.

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  16. You have a lot going on in your gardens! Heidi looks like a great companion in the garden. Labs are the best. I hope you get over your sickness and back in the garden soon. Happy May Day...

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  17. Sorry you're feeling under the weather. I've been a little tired myself. I love the bounty of your front garden. The bike basket is cute too. Your sidebar weather gadget has you at 82 degrees! Wow. I'm a little teensy bit jealous. :)

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  18. It all looks GREAT! Lots of blooming going on in your yard. Feel better soon.

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